This invention relates to floor mats of the type used, for example, in building entrances for removing dirt from the footwear of persons entering the building.
Almost all types of buildings, residential, commercial and industrial, commonly employ a grille, grating or mat either inside or outside (or both) of entrances to the building for removing dirt or water (or both) from the footwear of persons entering the building. A wide variety of such grilles, gratings and mats is available.
Grilles and gratings are often mounted over a substantial pit for accummulating or flushing away the material collected through the grille or grating. Mats, on the other hand, are usually placed on a floor or in a shallow well just deep enough for making the mat even with the adjacent floor. Inasmuch as there is thus less room beneath such mats for the accummulation of dirt or the like, it is particularly important for the mats as well as the surface beneath them to be easily cleanable.
One way of making cleaning easier is to make the mat easy to remove. The mat can then be carried to proper cleaning equipment and the surface which was beneath the mat can also be cleaned easily. Rolling mats, and particularly large mats, makes them easier to remove. It also makes them easier to install in confined spaces. The flexibility which permits rolling the mat also accommodates irregularities in the surface which supports the mat. A mat which can be rolled up is therefore particularly desirable.
Other attributes which a floor mat should have are effectiveness in dislodging and retaining dirt, snow and the like from footwear, attractiveness, and a durability which permits the mat to withstand abrasion and environmental conditions such as water, sunlight and temperature as well as salt and other substances which may be present in the matter collected by the mat. In addition to all these requirements, the mat must also be shallow in depth so as not to trip pedestrians and have a sufficiently smooth surface so as not to trap small high heels of a type from time to time fashionable on women's shoes.